Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was sentenced Friday (Oct. 3) to four years and two months in prison after being convicted in July of transporting two former girlfriends, Cassie Ventura and Jane Doe, across state lines to participate in his sometimes days-long “freak-offs.”
He was also fined $500,000 and ordered five years of supervised release.
Combs was acquitted on racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges, which could have seen living out a life sentence.
New York Times reporter Olivia Bensimon wrote that in court, “Judge Arun Subramanian announced his sentence, with some in the rows of Sean Combs’s family and friends putting their hands over their mouths as the judge underlined the severity of the mogul’s crimes. Mr. Combs remained impassive throughout the judge’s explanation, but appeared stunned and angry as the extent of the sentence set in.”
She also notes that when the court was adjourned, Combs turned back to look at his family and apologized to them several times while shaking his head.
Combs has consistently denied all of the allegations against him, but on Thursday, he penned an emotional letter to the judge, admitting to assaulting his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, throughout the course of their relationship.
“The scene and images of me assaulting Cassie play over and over in my head daily. I literally lost my mind. I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved. I’m sorry for that and always will be,” Combs wrote.
“Today, I humbly ask you for another chance—another chance to be a better father, another chance to be a better son, another chance to be a better leader in my community, and another chance to live a better life,” Combs continued.
Ventura testified against him in court. She testified that she was forced into taking part in the “freak-offs,” which started around 2008, when she was 22, and continued until they split in 2018. Ventura also testified that she was often tasked with finding escorts on Craigslist, who would be paid between $1,500 and $6,000.
“He would be violent with me, his look would just change over, he would just become a different person,” Ventura, 38, told the rapt federal jury during the trial.
“He would just become a different person. I wouldn’t know what would happen,’’ said Ventura, now a married mother of three.
While handing down his verdict, Judge Subramanian said Combs’ sentence of 50 months was necessary “to send a message to abusers and victims alike that exploitation and violence against women is met with real accountability.”
Combs was jailed on September 16, 2024, and has been housed in the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn. His attorneys applied for bail five times, but the judge believed him to be a threat to the public and denied each request.
Prosecutors had been seeking a substantial sentence of 11 years for Combs, while his defense lawyers were asking for a sentence of no more than 14 months.
The maximum sentence for each charge is up to 10 years’ imprisonment. He was facing up to 20 years in prison. Combs’ hopes now likely rely on President Donald Trump and whether he’d be willing to offer him a presidential pardon.
